A mother charged after her 1-year-old son died in a hot car parked outside her Gwinnett County workplace was granted bond Wednesday over the objections of a prosecutor who alleged she missed several potential reminders of the baby left behind.
Deja Coleman, whose last name also appears as Simpson on certain documents, has been in jail since July 29 and faces charges of second-degree murder and second-degree cruelty to children. She has left the jail at least once, aside from court hearings, to visit the funeral home on the morning of her son’s service.
Gwinnett Superior Court Judge Tamela Adkins granted Coleman a $5,000 bond during a Wednesday morning hearing. Once released from jail, Coleman must wear an ankle monitor while on house arrest and can only leave for medical appointments, meetings with her defense attorneys and for “therapeutic programming” required by the transitional housing nonprofit where Coleman will live, according to the signed bond order.
The judge said she would not place restrictions on whether Coleman sees her two older children, but said Coleman is not allowed to drive them.
The two sides offered different characterizations of what happened the day police say Coleman dropped her two older children off at daycare and then proceeded to her job at a Gwinnett hospital with her youngest still in the back seat. About nine hours later, a bystander reported an “unresponsive child locked in a vehicle,” and police found Daniel Coleman dead in his car seat, according to investigators.
An hour after breaking a window and removing the baby, Lawrenceville police said the temperature inside the car was 117 degrees.
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
The child’s death was an “an isolated, unfortunate incident,” one of Coleman’s attorneys, Trinity Hundredmark, told the judge Wednesday. But prosecutor Megan Matteucci said that while Coleman did not do it intentionally, it was a “negligent act” that “caused the death of the child.”
The defense argued for a reasonable bond, saying Coleman, 29, has not been working and is the main provider for her two children.
“All signs point to Ms. Coleman as a protector of her children and not a harm to her children. Unfortunately, this tragedy happened, but it was not violent and it was not intentional,” Hundredmark told the judge.
She later told reporters she was “thrilled” the judge agreed to release Coleman from jail ahead of a trial. The mother was still in custody as of 4 p.m., according to online records.
A former attorney for Coleman and police have said the mother had a routine before work. She would first drop off her 6-year-old and 4-year-old at the daycare; the oldest needs extra attention because of an autism diagnosis, they previously have said. Then she would return to her car to bring the baby into the daycare, they have said.
Matteucci told the court Wednesday that when Coleman arrived at the daycare on July 29 to drop off her children, the older two walked ahead of her as she held her phone in one hand while on a call and held a bag in her other hand. Matteucci said video showed Coleman was inside the daycare for “at least five minutes” while Daniel remained in the car.
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
A daycare worker asked Coleman about Daniel’s whereabouts, according to Matteucci. She said Coleman responded that the 1-year-old would be inside “in a minute.” Matteucci said Coleman checked in all of her children on the daycare’s check-in app.
Coleman, with Daniel in his car seat behind the passenger seat, then headed to work while still on the phone and backed into a spot at the hospital, Matteucci said.
Matteucci did not say who Coleman was speaking with but said she only got off the phone when she got to work. According to Matteucci, Coleman checked her phone at various points throughout her workday and said the mother’s lock screen is a picture of her three children.
“Throughout her day, she was reminded of that baby from the moment the daycare worker said, ‘Where’s Daniel?’ to multiple times she’s on her phone, as well as all of the evidence,” Matteucci said.
The prosecutor described Coleman as a flight risk, a danger to the community and told the judge that she could try to intimidate witnesses if released from custody.
Judge Adkins rejected those concerns but did instruct Coleman to not discuss the case with any current or potential witnesses while on bond.
Coleman’s attorneys did not detail their case, but told reporters after the hearing they dispute “a lot” of what the state presented.
“Hopefully, she’ll get back to, you know, living her life, getting back to her other two kids in the best way she can, trying to really grieve and process the loss, and then obviously the case will continue to move forward as they continue to investigate,” Hundredmark said.
She and Matthew Acuff are representing Coleman after the pair earlier this month notified the court they would be replacing her former attorney, Tom Ford. Ford told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution via phone a day after the notice was filed that he was aware of the change but declined to comment.
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
Credit: Abbey Cutrer/AJC
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